What America needs in a President: Not an embarrassment
Part of the series: "What America Needs in a President"The singularly most important characteristic of the President of the United States is to "not be an embarrassment" to the rest of us. The president represents every citizen of this country and should be someone that each American can point to with pride and say "That is my President". His behavior and decorum must better than for mature audiences only. When he represents this nation to the world, it must be done with dignity becoming the leader of one of the greatest, strongest and most benevolent nations this world has ever seen. When he speaks, he speaks for America and should do so in an exemplary manner. Indeed the job of president is to persuade, to inspire and to motivate a nation and a world.
If someone were to run for the office of President of the United States you would expect them to already possess these most essential qualities and that a posting such as this would be completely unnecessary. Alas, but it is not so. The last couple presidents have been lacking in the "not an embarrassment" category.
Skipping over the follies and foibles of the past, the future is not too bad actually.
Barack Obama
Senator Obama fought a long hard campaign against an opponent who would wanted to win at all costs. Even in such an environment, surprisingly little embarrassing material was produced. The highlights include:
* not wanting to be seen with women in traditional Muslim attire
* association with a radical and racist clergy
* unfortunate statements made by wife
* perceived lack of patriotism
None of these are all that embarrassing and certainly not on the scale as the last Democratic president. He has acted to distance himself from his church while appearing more patriotic.
On the positive side he is a good public speaker that can rally a crowd, motivate others to act and to share his vision.
John McCain
Senator McCain has been around the political scene for a long time now, yet again very little by way of embarrassment has been heaped upon him. The highlights include:
* oldness
* not conservative enough
* possible dalliance
Being old is not a bad thing, it means more experience and maybe even wisdom. It will make people look a little closer at the selection for Vice President. As for the accusations of not conservative enough, this will be a good thing among the moderates and independents that swing elections. The dalliance accusations do not seem to of held water and are not looming over his campaign at all.
On the plus side he is a decent speaker as well, although not as dynamic as Sen. Obama.
Conclusion: Both candidates pass the "not an embarrassment" test with Sen. Obama having a slight edge with his better speaking abilities which is offset by still lingering questions over his long affiliation with a radical racist.
Labels: president 2008
posted by Matthew O. Smith @ 2:30 PM
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